Using Books to Honor Gender Diversity in Kids

In honor of Transgender Awareness Week, I wanted to highlight the book Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love. While on the subway with his grandmother, Julián sees some women beautifully dressed up as mermaids. When he gets home, he tells his grandmother confidently that he is also a mermaid and uses different items from around the house to dress up just like them. This book is full of love and self-acceptance and I love the way that it honors gender diversity and exploration in kids.

This book is also great for learning about verbs! Verbs are important for language development because they help children start to make short sentences. The pictures are exquisite, and many of the pages don’t have text so it’s easy to ask your child to use their own verbs to talk about what the characters are doing.

Here are some verbs that your child can work on in Julián is a Mermaid. Practice making short sentences with each verb, such as “Julián is waving goodbye.” You can also act it out! By providing visual support in the form of gestures and the pictures in the book, your child will be able to “see” verbs in action!

1. Reading

2. Swimming

3. Transforming

4. Waving

5. Playing

6. Walking

7. Dressing

8. Thinking

9. Giving

10. Celebrating

Find out more about this book and author here.

If your child is having trouble communicating or learning language, contact me for a free consultation!